Kiah Abendroth: Imagination in Body Alignment and Music

Recently, as part of my professional development, I’ve been working on the relaxation and alignment of my body. Through doing this, I’ve found some surprising connections to LCI’s teaching philosophy. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised at this point. The more I study the philosophy, the more connections I make (I suppose “Making Connections” is one of the ten Capacities for Imaginative Learning). Actually, as time passes, the more I see the Capacities present in everything I do. I’m not sure if this is just an awareness and they were there all along, or if the Capacities are actually more present as a result of my practicing them. Perhaps a little bit of both.

ANYWAY, back to the epiphany.

I was laying on my back the other day, working on my alignment. As part of the practice, I was to imagine my spine lengthening (a type of passive correction known as “directing”). So as I lay there, imagining my spine lengthening, it actually started to happen, I could feel my body release into length. In my excitement, I thought: “Yes … up!” Oddly enough, when I used the word “up,” I could feel my body stop responding. At first, I was surprised: What changed? Why did my body stop lengthening? Over the next couple days, I continued reflecting on this, and I eventually came to a conclusion. By using the word “up,” I had undermined the power of my visualization. If a picture is worth a thousand words, when I used the word “up” I abandoned the other 999 words that came along with the picture of my spine lengthening. Interestingly, I think it is common that when trying to accomplish something, we go to words first. If I’m sensing some tension in my playing, for example, I could think “relax.” However, this is just one word. What if, in order to release the tension, certain muscles in my back actually had to contract to pull me back upright? Perhaps simply imagining what I wanted would have been more effective.

In everything I do right now, I am trying to find ways to use my imagination. In my trumpet playing, I’ve been actively imagining the sound of the music as I play (the imagined sound just slightly preceding my actual sound). This results in such things as: greater accuracy, better sound, less tension, and improved focus throughout the phrase. In a way, by letting my imagination be my guide, I am respecting my body’s natural abilities. Think of all the amazing things the body can do. Even right now, you are translating these symbols (just lines and squiggles) into words that have meaning! That alone is an amazing feat! What about catching a ball? Can you imagine what it would be like to try and use your conscious mind to catch a ball? The person would see the ball and think: “Ball is coming. Raise right hand. Arm bends at the elb--” SMACK! …Before the person has even finished raising their hand, the ball hits them in the face! We seem to have the misconception that our conscious minds always know best.

Imagination is unique. When you imagine something, you seem to use both the mind and body (both the conscious and subconscious). This is what makes it such a powerful tool. When I imagined the word “up,” that was my conscious mind trying to take control (and it was not nearly as powerful as my imagination had been). I really respect LCI’s mission to cultivate the imagination through the arts. If I ever had any doubts that the imagination was a valuable tool, those doubts have been completely erased. I challenge you to explore this yourself. Next time you’re trying to accomplish a task (anything!), consider how you might use your imagination as a tool. Try it, and I bet you’ll be surprised with the results.